Ladysmith eBook

There was little to mark the day beyond the steady
shelling of snipers by the Natal Navals, and a great
96lb. shell from Bulwan which plunged through a Kaffir
house, where black labourers live stuffed together,
took off a Kaffir’s foot, ricocheted over our
little mess-room, just glancing off the roof, and
fell gasping, but still entire, beside our verandah.
I rode up to Caesar’s Camp in the morning sun.
It was a scene of sleepy peace, only broken by the
faint interest of watching where the shells burst
in the town far below.

CHAPTER XVI

THE GREAT ATTACK

January 6, 1900.

It has been a commonplace of the war that the Boers
could cling to a position of their own choosing from
behind stones, but would never venture to attack a
position or fight in the open. Like all the comforting
commonplaces about the Boers, this is now overthrown.
The untrained, ill-equipt farmers have to-day assaulted
positions of extraordinary strength, have renewed
the attack again and again, have rushed up to breastworks,
and died at the rifle’s mouth, and have only
been repulsed after fifteen hours of hard and gallant
fighting on the part of the defence.

Waggon Hill is a long, high spur of Caesar’s
Camp, running out south-west between Long Valley and
Bester’s Farm. At the extremity, as I have
described, are the great gun-pits prepared for “Lady
Anne” and a Naval 12-pounder some weeks ago.
“Lady Anne” was for the second time being
brought up into position there last night, and ought
to have been fixed the night before, but was stopped
half-way by the wet.

The Boer attack was probably not merely an attempt
on the gun, but on the position, and the gun is being
taken back to her usual position to-night. Besides
the gun-pits, the hill has no defences except a few
low walls, only two or three stones high, piled up
at intervals round the edge, as shelters from long-range
fire. The place was held only by three dismounted
squadrons of Imperial Light Horse, but the 1st K.R.R.
(60th) were in support in a large sangar about three-quarters
of a mile along the same ridge, separated from Waggon
Hill proper by the low “nek” where the
two howitzers used to stand. From the 60th the
ridge turns at an angle eastward, and becomes the
long tableland of Caesar’s Camp, held by the
Manchesters and 42nd Battery (Major Goulburn).
The top is broad and flat, covered with grass and
loose stones. The whole position completely overlooks
the town to the north, and if it fell into the enemy’s
hands we should either have to retake it or quit the
camps and town. The edge measures 4,000 yards,
and the Manchesters had only 560 men to hold it.

At a quarter to three a.m., while it was still dark,
a small party of Boer sharpshooters climbed up the
further (south-east) face of Waggon Hill, just left
of the “nek.” They were picked men
who had volunteered for the exploit. Nearly all
came from Harrismith. We had posted a picket
of eight at the point, but long security had made them
careless, or else they were betrayed by a mistake
which nearly lost the whole position. From the
edge of the hill the whole face is “dead”
ground. It is so steep that an enemy climbing
up it cannot be seen. It was almost a case of
Majuba again.